In the world of Web site monitoring products, there are tools that monitor how the Web site performs and tools that tell you how the end user experienced the Web site - and products that do both.

More and more network managers need to focus on metrics beyond network and application performance. The real user experience is what network managers need to track down. Companies like Coradiant and TeaLeaf deliver products that can track activities on Web sites and determine the source of errors.

Last month, Tealeaf updated its product suite, and next week Coradiant is set to unveil the third generation of the product that company representatives say will ensure IT managers pick up on application errors before the end-user, who could be a paying customer on an e-commerce Web site. Coradiant dubs its technology real-user monitoring (vs. synthetic testing technologies) and will be updating its appliances with version 3.0 of its TrueSight operating system.

Coradiant added a feature called Content Extraction that allows network managers to collect specific data from Web pages, such as the dollar value of a transaction or an XML message from an AJAX client. The company also added new application programming interfaces (API) that allow other systems to extract the data collected by TrueSight appliances while monitoring Web traffic.

The TrueSight device needs to be installed in the delivery network to capture the appropriate data. This data capture is accomplished via a network tap, a mirrored port on a switch, or similar feature on a load-balancing device. Pricing for appliances - which come in three flavors - ranges from $20,000 to $90,000.

The TrueSight 3.0 operating system is available immediately as an integral part of the company's TrueSight family of RUM system appliance, including the TS-1100, TS-520 and TS-300. Release 3.0 is available for free to all supported Coradiant customers.

Ann Bednarz is associate news editor at Network World.